Players who hit home-runs in their first at-bat in MLB – Part 4
A list of players who have hammered a smashing hit for a home-run at their first-ever at-bat in Major League Baseball level is still continuing. Joe Harrington has started the fashion and it is still continues to date but it is always valuable to remember
history. Bill Duggleby was the first player to hit a grand slam, Earl Averill was the first to be inducted in the Hall of Fame and Walter Mueller was the first to launch a homer on his first ever pitch.
Now comes another hitter who hit a home-run on the first ever pitch he faced.
Eddie Morgan
Ohio native strong man, who was born on November 19, 1914 in Brad Lake of Ohio in a well established family, debuted his MLB career on April 14, 1936 at the age of 21. A lefty playing as pinch-hitter in his first outing launched a devastating home-run on
his first ever pitch in MLB to be a maiden pinch hitter to accomplish this mark.
Morgan played only eight games in 1936, made five hits and four runs including three RBIs with .278 batting averages over 18 at-bats. Next year he appeared in 31 games for Brooklyn Dodgers and made only four runs and five RBIs on nine hits with a .188 batting
average over 48 at-bats.
Because of his low performance he announced his retirement from the game in 1937 and landed for his last game on July 23, 1937 for the Brooklyn Dodgers.
Ace Parker (First All-American Player)
Just a month before Eddie Morgan played his last game, Ace Parker, a first All-American Tailback at Duke University, made a brilliant start in Major League Baseball. He became the first player to hit a home-run who was also playing in the National Football
League and basketball at school level. He launched his homer on April 30, 1937 for Philadelphia Phillies to open his MLB career.
He contested in football, basketball and baseball from 1934-1936 at his university and was probably the best punter in college football team that led him to sixth place in Heisman Trophy in 1936. Over his two year MLB career, he entered in 94 games and 207
at-bats in which he punched 37 hits to score 20 runs and 25 RBIs. He made only one more home-run and left MLB with a .179 batting average on September 4, 1938.
Parker also made his mark in the NFL with .500 record and led the game in passing yards with 865. He started his MLB career with Brooklyn Dodgers and then moved to New York Giants and left football in 1942 to enlist in the Armed Services to participate in
the Second World War. He returned to action in 1946 with the New York Yankees to lead the club to their only AAFC East Championship.
Parker ended his sporting career at the age of 34 and was inducted in to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1972. After retiring from game, he joined coaching department of Duke University and then became manager of Durham Bulls. Parker is still alive at the
age of 99 and is a second oldest among living former Major League Baseball players.
List of players that launched a home-run at their first at-bat is still continuing in the coming articles. This list is increasing day-by-day as new players with modern playing styles now prefer to hit out of the park instead restricting themselves to singles
and RBIs.
Continued in Part 5
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